Modest progress is reported in the areas of finance and investment, research and innovation and infrastructure, but minimal progress was made in social engagement and demand management.

In this context, progress is assessed against the recommendations of the last report.

Some of the progress recorded includes a wave of new public and private finance commitments and the development of innovative financial instruments improving access to financing and an increase in participation in key public and private sector research and innovation initiatives and improvements in capacity building.

Have you read?
Smart grids and digitalisation – more effort needed says IEA
Energy Transitions Podcast: Overcoming funding pitfalls for net-zero projects

At the infrastructure level countries have set clear priorities and roadmaps for regional grid initiatives and have advanced bilateral and regional cross-border power exchange initiatives.

At the social engagement level, however, while several social support programmes were announced there is limited visibility into the alignment of development funding by governments and the multilateral development banks.

There also has been minimal progress on agreement among countries on the agreement of higher minimum energy performance standards.

The report, which in addition to the power sector reviews progress in the hydrogen, road transport, steel, buildings, cement and agriculture sectors, points to the “crucial action” needed during this decade to head off the worst effects of climate change.

While the transition to clean energy and sustainable solutions is accelerating across many sectors, global emissions are still increasing and countries’ nationally determined contributions on emissions reductions are not consistent with curbing temperature rise in line with international climate goals.

“Well-targeted international collaboration is a critical enabler at each stage of the Transition,” states the report, commenting that the ‘Breakthrough Agenda’ is designed to strengthen international collaboration across the major greenhouse gas emitting sectors of the global economy.

Overall the report finds insufficient progress in transitions to clean technologies and sustainable solutions over the past year and while current efforts are improving, they are not yet delivering the levels of investment and deployment required to meet international climate goals.

“The energy transition is moving quicker than many people think, but it needs to move faster still,” insists IEA executive director Fatih Birol.

“Our analysis shows that while some sectors are seeing stronger international collaboration, others are falling behind. Building on innovation, attracting investment and scaling up demand for new technologies are the fundamental building blocks for success. By delaying further, we are simply increasing the risks.”

Francesco La Camera, director-general of IRENA, comments that there is urgency to “overcome the systemic barriers across infrastructure, policy, and institutional capabilities”.

“And we must realign the way in which international cooperation works. A well-targeted international cooperation can determine whether we meet our collective promise to secure a climate-safe existence for current and future generations.”

Power sector recommendations

Recommendations for the power sector for the year ahead are:

1. Governments, working with key institutions and funds, should ensure that international support is available at better terms, including grants at early investment stages. Overall provision of resources should be increased, particularly towards technologies that have not achieved commercial maturity.
2. Governments and the development banks should work together to more strongly align development funding with targeted support for local jobs, skills and investment. Civil society, governments and industry should contribute to creating international centres of expertise on the just transition.
3. Governments should work through relevant initiatives to accelerate the identification of suitable demonstration projects, resource them appropriately and ensure high quality knowledge sharing structures are put in place.
4. Governments should work together to reassess the opportunities for cross-border and regional power interconnection and smart grids to support the transition to clean power systems. Countries and investors should support international efforts to identify top regional priorities for interconnections.
5. Countries, in consultation with industry, should collectively agree to higher minimum energy performance standards for high energy consuming appliances, supported by awareness campaigns and incentives, such as energy efficiency retrofit programmes.

The briefing, which was prepared by Beecham Research, indicates that out of 174.7 million LPWAN chipset shipments in 2022, 65.9 million were LoRa, while 22.4 million were NB-IoT, 45.4 million were LTE-M and the balance a combination of others including Sigfox and Wi-SUN.

By 2027, with growth expected of almost 20% per annum, shipments are projected to reach 424.8 million. Of these, 148.4 million are LoRa, 61.8 million NB-IoT, 107.1 million LTE-M and 107.5 million others.

(To give a broadly global picture, these numbers exclude China, which has adopted NB-IoT as the standard for massive IoT applications, whereas elsewhere a mixture of NB-IoT and LTE-M is offered by mobile operators).

Have you read?
Water AMI innovation with Amazon Sidewalk
LoRaWAN expands the addressable IoT market—smart utilities

“Choosing the right connectivity technology for a use case is the most important decision an end-user will make,” states Donna Moore, chairwoman and CEO of the LoRa Alliance.

She comments that without the in-house expertise, solutions providers can help find the right-fit technology.

“Solutions providers analyse use cases, provide education on available technologies and allow project managers to envision the full scope of an IoT deployment. System integrators bring those ideas to life by integrating IoT sensor data into a platform that consolidates data from numerous end-user platforms.”

The briefing reviews the key features of LoRa as a long range, low power technology, initially developed for utility application, with the ability to penetrate concrete and steel and provide connectivity underground, but also finding application in smart building and smart city IoT use cases, particularly where low latency is not a key requirement.

As a result approximately 35-40% of all LoRaWAN deployments are estimated in the utility sector but the other sectors are increasing rapidly.

The briefing also reviews IoT use cases in the three sectors, with its use in the utilities sector for smart gas and water metering to improve the control and measurement of these commodities.

Current example projects cited include an over 3 million LoRa water meter digitalisation by Veolia and subsidiary Birdz in France and a Middle East utility harnessing low Earth orbit satellites with LoRaWAN to gain visibility on its approximately two million smart meters.

Smart building trends include an increasing emphasis on safety and comfort, with IoT applications such as HVAC and lighting control and air quality monitoring.

In cities, IoT applications include smart parking and street lighting, water and waste management and environmental sensing.

The Drakenstein Municipality project is an ongoing collaboration with clean tech developer Schneider Electric and system integrator partner, Altek.

Located 30 minutes outside of Cape Town, the Municipality has installed Schneider Electric’s RM AirSeT switchgear with pure air technology and digital connectivity.

Installed in February 2023 at the Dalwes substation, the new technology is free from SF₆ gas (Sulphur hexafluoride) and its associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Shifting away from SF₆

The municipality’s choice to install the switchgear, forms part of their drive for clean growth and electricity distribution.

Vladimir Milovanovic, vice president of power systems for Schneider Electric Anglophone Africa: “Drakenstein Municipality is undoubtedly leading the way in establishing a modern, digitised infrastructure that enables it to remotely monitor equipment like the RM AirSeT switchgear which in turn allows for expanded network visibility, as well as preventative and proactive maintenance and problem solving.”

Added Alderman Conrad Poole, executive mayor of Drakenstein Municipality: “This project comes at a time when South Africa faces immense energy challenges. Being an early adopter of this pioneering technology will enable us to share lessons learnt with our peers.”

Mayor Poole here is referring to rolling blackouts in the country, known as loadshedding, due to the breakdown of TSO Eskom’s generating units.

Have you read:
Why the energy transition cannot compromise on SF₆
Air – the outstanding sustainable alternative to SF₆

Identified by the Kyoto Protocol as one of six GHGs needed to be reduced, SF₆, a regulated fluorinated gas, is typically found in traditional gas-insulated switchgear and is 23,500 times more potent than CO2.

The gas currently has a special exemption for use in electrical distribution across geographies. However, as alternatives become more readily available, countries and territories are considering measures to restrict its use. For example, earlier this year in March, the European Parliament voted to accelerate the phase down of SF₆ and other fluorinated gases (F-gases) on the EU market.

Digital connectivity – SCADA update

Aside from the move to greener distribution, the switchgear is also being touted by the project partners as providing the municipality with heightened digital connectivity.

The municipality, serving a population of 305,281, will gradually replace its current 25-year-old SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) monitoring system with Schneider Electric’s ETAP system, which they describe as a model-driven electrical SCADA software solution.

Three of the municipality’s 36 substations are already online in the system. In the 2023/24 financial year, eight more substations will be brought online.

Explaining the system during the launch event was Altek managing director Alvin Naidoo, who stated the necessity of using SCADA: “We once looked at SCADA as a ‘nice to have’ but now it’s a way of life… [Through SCADA] we improve the efficiency of our network, reduce fault finding times and improve response times.”

According to Naidoo, the importance of the system comes in when looking at the use of data for consumption management:

“Based on simulation data, the system has features for load forecasting. We take simulation data, data that’s available in the repositories on the SQL (structured query language) and essentially amalgamate them and create load forecasting potential.”

Additionally, Schneider Electric states that the switchgear includes condition-based maintenance features, feeding data from its sensors to local field tools/apps and analytics tools, which can be hosted in the cloud or on premise, depending on requirements.

It also provides continuous condition monitoring and controls to check the quality of power connections, identify and isolate faults, as well as self-healing capabilities for reduced downtime.

In announcing the project, Enedis stated the importance of security and reliability of the electrical supply, in a context of accelerating electrical uses from the upcoming Olympic games.

In Seine-Saint-Denis, the replacement of one of the transformers at the Bourget source substation will allow Enedis to strengthen the quality of power supply for several decades and anticipate the demographic and economic growth of the region that will test the system’s resiliency.

Arrived by convoy from Saint-Leu-d’Esserrent in Oise, the new transformer can accommodate almost a double amount of electrical power, from 40MVA to 70MVA. 

Have you read?
First fully digital substation in US begins operation
Portugal’s EDP bets on a startup’s next-gen transformer

The substation is set to become one of the most powerful in the Ile de France region that includes Paris and its surroundings, according to the DSO, and will secure the electricity supply for 52,000 customers.

The replacement of the transformer coincides with the calendar of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as part of the event organiser’s goal to connect 100% of the sites to the electricity network, rather than using generators for their power supply.

Similarly, earlier this year, Enedis announced the rollout of electric terminals to connect event sites across France to the grid to minimise carbon footprint of the event.

The company will operate for consumers in the US and Canada, aiming to unlock the potential offered by EVs for the electric power grid.

According to the partners in a press release, ChargeScape’s platform is designed to enable EVs to interact with the electric grid in ways that were not possible with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.

This includes managed charging and energy-sharing services that can provide financial benefits to EV owners. Specifically, ChargeScape’s platform intends to eliminate the need for individual integrations between automakers and electric utilities.

The platform will also provide utilities access to the energy stored in a large number of EV batteries. EV owners will then have the opportunity to earn financial incentives by charging their vehicles during times that are advantageous for the grid, thanks to flexible scheduling.

In the future, the platform will enable EV owners to contribute to grid stability during peak demand through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications.

Vehicle-to-grid communications

ChargeScape is expected to enhance the efficient use of EV batteries by providing energy data to electric utilities and system operators, including aggregated demand response, aligning charging with off-peak hours and promoting the use of renewable energy sources.

According to the partners, the establishment of ChargeScape aligns with the increasing adoption of EVs, which presents challenges to the electric grid due to higher electricity demand for charging.

The platform thus aims to provide energy management services to help support grid resiliency while looking to the future of V2G capabilities that will benefit both EV customers and electric utilities.

Moreover, ChargeScape aims to contribute to decarbonising the grid; the company’s efforts aims to reduce EV customers’ personal carbon footprints by utilising electricity that comes from more readily available renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar.

Have you read:
India to get its first V2G system
Self-consumption V2G system launched for Chinese national park
E-mobility deployment and its impact on European transmission and distribution grids

“Electric grid reliability and sustainability are the foundation for an EV-powered future,” said Thomas Ruemenapp, vice president of engineering, BMW of North America.

“ChargeScape aims to accelerate the expansion of smart charging and vehicle-to-everything solutions all over the country, while increasing customer benefits, supporting the stability of the grid and helping to maximise renewable energy usage.”

Added Jay Joseph, vice president of sustainability & business development for American Honda Motor: “With automakers accelerating toward the electrified future, we must find solutions like ChargeScape that enable all stakeholders to work together for the good of our customers, society and our industry by enabling greater use of renewable energy for and from mobility.”

The collaboration builds on the Open Vehicle Grid Integration Platform (OVGIP), which provides a unified interface using communication protocols where all the components of the VGI (vehicle-grid integration) system can interact for managed EV charging.

ChargeScape, along with the work done to date with OVGIP, is expected to bring managed charging benefits to a wider range of EV owners. It will also reduce marketing and outreach costs for utilities seeking to connect with EV owners in their service areas.

BMW Group, Ford Motor Company and American Honda have direct, multi-channel communication with their EV customers through the platform, solving a central problem for utilities, they state, who typically do not have an easy way to identify the EV customers in their service territory.

The formation of ChargeScape is contingent on regulatory approvals and is expected to become operational in the near future.

The aim of the app is to enable users to optimise how and when energy is used around their homes, integrating smart devices, such as electric vehicle charge points and solar panels, regardless of their brand.

“There’s a lot of clever technology out there that helps people manage the energy in their homes but, incredibly, there’s nothing in the UK that works with different brands and devices, meaning people can’t currently control all the energy devices across their home in one place,” said Swarm Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer Anthony Piggott.

“We knew we could create something to change this and with [Opencast’s] tech expertise and our knowledge of the energy sector, we have the ability to make something really exciting: one app to control every aspect of energy in the home.”

Have you read?
Smart home app gamifies grid-reactive air con for consumers
Hauts-de-France: A region focused on an energy revolution

Demonstration and testing of the new app are set to take place in a purpose-built energy hub at the Hoults Yard business village in Newcastle, where the two companies are based, with the first iteration planned for launch in autumn 2023.

Growing UK consumer interest in green innovations

The availability of such apps as Swarm’s would appear to be timely, with a new survey from McKinsey & Company of more than 2,000 consumers revealing a soaring demand for green energy innovations to curb high energy prices and reduce household bills.

McKinsey reports that as wholesale prices have started to fall enabling retailers to offer lower prices the incentive to switch suppliers, after record low levels, has increased and a third of consumers are considering switching, while almost half are willing to adopt some form of time-of-use tariffs.

Further, a quarter are also willing to buy additional green products and services from energy retailers such as energy management services, solar panels, electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps.

With this suppliers also have the opportunity to attract more customers and diversify their offerings by curbing costs, simplifying processes and boosting public awareness of new energy products and services, McKinsey indicates.

Kiril Bliznakov, Senior Partner at McKinsey, says the survey findings point to the driving of a more competitive market where low cost and low carbon tariffs, products and services will be the key differentiators of the future.

“The ‘gamification’ of energy services and rising demand for energy-as-a-service offerings will create new opportunities for suppliers to increase long-term customer loyalty and to both decarbonise and cut household bills.”
 

The concept, an approach to managing the vegetation in the spaces beneath power lines – so-called ‘grid corridors’ – has come to be adopted increasingly by system operators but its rollout across Europe remains elusive.

This is according to the Renewables Grid Initiative, which reports engaging with the topic for many years and now taking the next steps to developing and implementing policies to advance it.

Integrated vegetation management is focussed on the ecological health of the grid corridors, while still removing vegetation which could interfere with the system security by touching a line.

Have you read?
Entering a new orbit of data
Predictive AI for T&D: How automated inspections optimise electric power systems and contain costs

Typically, this involves the selective removal of fast growing trees and invasive species, while promoting low growing native plants and creating new habitats that thrive among these plant communities, as well as exploring new economic opportunities for local stakeholders.

Resultant benefits have been documented for nature, people and the grid operators alike, ranging from improvements in local biodiversity to the engagement of local actors in vegetation management support.

Indeed, a cost-benefit analysis by Elia of an initiative run together with the French TSO RTE and the Ecofirst cooperative consultancy has estimated integrated vegetation management to be up to almost four times less expensive than traditional management over 30 years.

As the first of the next steps, the Renewables Grid Initiative has launched a series of workshops for European TSOs and DSOs to share experiences and discuss pathways forward.

Outcomes from the first of these in June, which focussed largely on the LIFE Elia-RTE project, were the identification of three key priorities of which one is the need for guidance and potentially standardised methodologies to collect and disseminate the benefits of integrated vegetation management.

A second is the harmonisation of regulatory remuneration and financing mechanisms across the EU and the need for guidance on the funding mechanisms available.

Third is support on balancing nature restoration with access to the grid assets for maintenance purposes and the need for bird protection.

These and other activities will now be addressed further in the second of the Initiative’s steps, a new working group of European TSOs and DSOs, which has been formed with the aim of moving towards a coordinated approach to integrated vegetation management in the region.

The EGL1 project will see the creation of a 525kV, 2GW HVDC (high voltage direct current) subsea transmission cable from Torness in East Lothian, Scotland to Hawthorn Pit in County Durham, England, enabling the transmission of renewable green energy to power more than two million homes across the UK.

Utilities SP Transmission (SPT) and National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) selected the suppliers to provide engineering works and technology for HVDC converter stations, which form the terminals for the HVDC cable and convert the direct current to the alternating current used in the onshore transmission network.

“As the consortium leader, we are delighted to be chosen as a preferred supplier together with our partner MYTILINEOS in the development of a new subsea electricity superhighway, the Eastern Green Link 1 (EGL1) project,” said Philippe Piron, CEO at GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business.

Also on EGL1:
National Grid and SSEN launch UK’s ‘largest ever transmission project’
UK’s largest transmission reinforcement project secures development consent

This latest milestone for the EGL1 project follows the recent announcement of Prysmian Group being selected as the exclusive preferred bidder for the HVDC cabling contract.

The HVDC cable system is approximately 190km in length with converter stations at either end to connect it into the existing transmission network infrastructure.

HVDC technology provides the most efficient and reliable means of transmitting large amounts of power over long distances subsea, according to NGET.

GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business will be providing HVDC valves and controls systems, as well as HVDC transformers from their facilities in Staffordshire, UK.

UK minister for nuclear and networks, Andrew Bowie said: “We have a world class renewables sector that help us power Britain from Britain with reliable, clean and affordable energy for families and businesses.

“With investment in renewables rising by 500% since 2010, we must continue to transform our electricity network to ensure we can move power from where it is generated to where it is needed. Projects like this will do just that and help us to grow the economy, reduce bills, achieve net zero and strengthen our energy security.”

Added EGL1’s project director Peter Roper: “This is a critical time for the energy sector as it drives the transition to net zero.

“GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business and MYTILINEOS as preferred suppliers, are leading specialists in this high technology field and bring considerable expertise in delivering the infrastructure required to meet the UK’s future energy needs and net zero targets.”

The upgrade includes three further subsea links between Scotland and England, of which this joint venture is the first.

Following final approval of regulatory allowances from Ofgem, full contracts for EGL1 are expected to be complete later this year with construction work due to begin in 2024. The project’s targeted operational date is 2029.

Namely, OhmConnect, a residential energy management company, has partnered with LG Electronics to integrate their demand response programme with the ThinkQ App and drive grid-reactive demand response through LG Room Air Conditioners.

The platform makes use of a gamified energy management experience, allowing consumers to earn rewards by automatically optimising usage of their LG air conditioners during periods of peak grid demand.

According to OhmConnect in a press release, the goal of their demand response programme is to enable the creation of grid-connected homes, using integrations with other companies in the fields of renewable energy, energy storage systems, HVAC technology and other smart home technologies to strengthen and modernise energy infrastructure.

Have you read:
UK energy regulator investigates domestic demand side response
San Diego tests unique virtual power plant as heat raises demand

One such integration into the programme, through the LG ThinQ App, users can remotely control the temperature settings of their LG room air conditioners, reducing energy consumption when the electrical grid strains.

“Together with OhmConnect, we are creating an integrated sustainable ecosystem to improve grid reliability and resilience, while helping homeowners save more money on energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint,” said Jae Ahn, Head of the ThinQ Platform business at LG Electronics USA.

“It is alliances – like ours with LG – that really make an outsized impact on enabling millions of residents to take control of their energy use,” added Cisco DeVries, CEO of OhmConnect.

“It’s exciting to partner with one of the world’s leading brands to help stabilise the grid as we march towards a clean energy future.”

LG and OhmConnect have plans to expand and enhance the service later in 2023.

While the full visual design has not yet been made public, ‘New Energies’ is described as a multi-functional system aimed to make the most of the natural elements – sun, light, wind and rain – and combining energy efficiency with an optimal balance between the investments and the economic, environmental and social benefits.

In this way it is intended to be versatile and to meet the need to modernise the electrical infrastructure with a sustainable footprint throughout its lifecycle.

Features include rooftop solar panels, a porous floor that lets in rainwater and prevents the formation of heat islands and a wave fence with a modular grid design that lets in light and wind.

Have you read?
First fully digital substation in US begins operation
Energy Transitions Podcast

In addition, plants will be grown all around the substation with the adoption of the Miyawaki method, which involves the dense planting of fast growing smaller native species under taller trees.

The primary goal of the challenge was to create a sustainable modular architecture for primary substations, with a high level of versatility and replicability and optimisation of the space.

A key goal was that the infrastructure needs to blend in with the environment, with an innovative design combining safety with flexibility and with improved visual, functional and spatial impact.

The challenge attracted 36 entries from engineers, academia, designers and architecture and construction companies from 16 countries, and was adjudged by a similarly multi-disciplinary panel.

Other proposals that were awarded special prizes and will be implemented in existing facilities were from the Rome-based architecture practice NEXT Urban Solutions in collaboration with the visual artist Filippo Riniolo, by architects Andrea Bautista and Jessica García Huachez and from the Milan design practice Vittorio Grassi Architects.

Enel states that the primary substation design challenge forms part of a larger process that Enel Grids has set in motion aimed at modernising and redesigning the key elements of the distribution networks.

Earlier redesigns have focussed on the design and structure of meters, street cabinets, secondary substations and power line supports and the next step is on the larger and more complex infrastructure.

The approximately 30 different challenges launched over the last two years have led to hundreds of proposals based on more circular practices “to increase grid automation and digitalisation, deliver state-of-the-art solutions that ensure safety and productivity in field operations and reduce the environmental and economic impact of building new facilities, with a special focus on biodiversity and harmonious integration with the local environment and thereby eliminate the carbon footprint of the grids”, the company states.

The study, The Road to Transportation Decarbonization: Readying the Grid for Electric Fleets, was conducted jointly by the grid operator and the tech major to investigate the significant impact this electrification will have on the grid.

Namely, for the US grid to accommadate the much needed electrificaiton of heavy duty transport such as buses, trucks and vans, the study touts five key findings:

1: Region-specific strategy needed

According to the study, certain regions will experience grid impacts from MHDV electrification in the near future. Specifically, multi-megawatt charging loads from fleet clusters, or even a single depot, will quickly strain grid capacity in these areas.

As large fleets or states establish clear electrification targets or mandates, early adopters of electric MHDVs will place significant demands on the grid.

Utilities and policymakers must anticipate and prepare for these near-term loads and grid impacts, employing strategies tailored to each specific region’s needs.

2: Future-minded strategic investment

The study underscores the importance of coordinated investments in areas with high forecast electrification to minimise long-term costs and expedite electrification.

Namely, data, tools and forecast methods should be used to identify priority investment areas as well as locations requiring minimal, or deferred, infrastructure upgrades; these areas can then be aligned with fleet electrification and utility investment plans.

Have you read:
Are Europe’s distribution grids ready for heavy-duty EVs?
Network of hydrogen stations for heavy-duty vehicles in Europe

3: Updating regulation

The research highlights the necessity for evolving regulatory and planning structures to accommodate MHDV electrification.

According to the research, the majority of the electric load scenarios identified fall outside the scope of typical utility planning and regulatory processes. It is thus crucial to develop anticipatory planning and investment processes and regulatory mechanisms that can adapt to the rapidly evolving needs of electric MHDVs.

4: Grid infrastructure upgrades

According to the study, an optimal grid infrastructure strategy for MHDV electrification will vary by location.

Different infrastructure strategies, states the research, such as electric network reconfiguration, multi-value grid infrastructure upgrades, and non-wires solutions such as storage, can effectively support electric MHDVs depending on the unique circumstances and requirements of each location.

Stakeholders, it states, should thus consider the specific needs of each location when devising an infrastructure strategy, enabling utilities to invest in solutions that not only address immediate demands but also accommodate long-term charging growth.

5: Collaborative efforts

The study emphasizes the necessity for new forms of partnership and cooperation to facilitate the transition to electric MHDVs.

Such collaboration among fleet operators, MHDV manufacturers, utilities, and other stakeholders, states the research, will be crucial to coordinate investments, assess charging needs and overcome barriers to charging deployment.

The study, aimed to investigate the impact of the large-scale integration of hydrogen electrolysers to the grid, points to hydrogen as complementary to electrification for decarbonisation targets rather than a target in itself, with the first applications likely to be for substituting grey hydrogen in present industrial processes.

However, electrolysers will progressively become an additional system element, which implies that it should be planned and operated synergically with the rest of the energy system.

The report identifies four key issues, i.e. the relationship between supply and demand, the use cases and their impact on the grids, flexibility and the impact on system planning.

Have you read?
Renewables connection times higher than desired in Europe – E.DSO
Why hydrogen is the right-time-right-place electricity delivery option

As a new system component, the recognition of green hydrogen requires an ad-hoc scheme, valid across jurisdictions, for the infeed electricity encompassing the additionality principle, in order to avoid double counting and greenwashing as well as cannibalisation of other decarbonisation processes.

In addition, there needs to be both geographical and time correlation to ensure the utilised renewable energies are not impaired by grid congestion.

At the grid operation level, in order to better exploit the variability of renewable energies, the flexible operation of the power system requires to decouple as much as possible the profiles of green hydrogen production from hydrogen consumption.

This means having enough storage elements both in the power system and in the hydrogen system.

With this, the hydrogen system also can provide long-term flexibility, through storage of excess renewables in gas reservoirs, as well as adequacy support.

Short-term flexibility services also are possible via demand response and balancing from electrolysers.

In terms of planning hydrogen projects should be designed and assessed starting from the end use case, volumes and costs, not from the supply side, which must follow the needs of the end user.

From the energy system point of view, the deployment pace of electrolysers should match the increase of the large amount of additional renewables volumes required for producing green hydrogen, in order not to cannibalise other decarbonisation processes.

Other infrastructure, such as pipelines and storage facilities, also need to be coordinated with grid developments as well as end user needs.

The report also notes ‘hydrogen valleys’ as a promising configuration for starting the development of comprehensive use cases.

In conclusion, the report highlights the need for a ‘one system’ view, noting that the viability of hydrogen projects is both case and country-dependent.

Win-win solutions matching business needs with system requirements must be found in order to maximise the benefits for all stakeholders.

For a smooth but fast transition phase, repurposing the gas grid, also through initial blending, is suggested as a viable and smart option to enable a gradual phase-out of natural gas and set-up of a hydrogen market.

The project EDGE (Energy from Distributed Resources for the Management of the E-Distribuzione Network) aims to test and establish the most appropriate solution for the procurement of local ancillary services and related remuneration in Italy.

The project will initially cover areas in four provinces, Cuneo and Venice in the north of Italy and Benevento and Foggia in the south.

Have you read?
Europe’s grids need anticipatory planning and investment – Eurelectric
Energy Transitions Podcast: Enabling flexibility with district self-balancing

“We are incredibly excited to launch this new market alongside E-Distribuzione, which is setting a new, leading standard for what can be achieved through DSO flexibility markets,” says James Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Piclo.

“This unparalleled development across Europe marks a new era for these markets including short-term flexibility services, greater integrations and end-to-end automation and ultimately improved network decarbonisation and resilience. We can’t wait to get going.”

The EDGE project is focussed on providing active power regulation services, in order to comply with network constraints in both normal operating conditions and reconfigurations caused by failures or scheduled works.

Potential resources that can participate include production and consumption units, battery storage units and electric vehicle charging systems with delivery from both residential and non-residential users.

Piclo Flex as an independent marketplace will provide the end-to-end solution to acquire and dispatch the flexibility services to E-Distribuzione’s networks.

For Piclo the project marks a further step in the growing use of the platform around the world by network operators, including four DNOs and the TSO in the UK as well as others in Ireland, Portugal, Lithuania and New York state in the US.

As of 2022, Piclo Flex had 55,000 registered flexible assets representing 16.6GW of flex capacity, with flexibility contracts awarded totalling £58 million (US$73 million) and 1.1GW+ of flexible capacity procured.

E-Distribuzione is part of the Enel Group and is the largest DSO in Italy.

The EDGE project was initiated in response to the EU’s Clean Energy Package and the growing need for flexibility in Italy, with the government’s plan to add at least 70GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 to cover 30% of the gross energy consumption.

The new company was announced at the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and is the result of a multi-year development partnership between Virunga Power (a Gridworks investee company) and the Government of Burundi.

Over a seven-year period, Weza Power will aim to connect 9 million people and will provide electricity to residential and business customers across peri-urban and rural Burundi, which has one of Africa’s lowest electrification rates.

According to Gridworks, only 12% of the country’s 12 million people currently have access to electricity, with that number falling to 2% in rural areas.

Most new household customers burn kerosene and charcoal for energy, while businesses have to rely on expensive and polluting diesel generators.

Financing

Gridworks, which is owned by British International Investment, the UK government’s development finance institution, became a controlling shareholder of Virunga Power in March 2023 following a $50 million investment.

Virunga Power is developing the Weza Power project and will provide the initial equity investment.

Have you read:
Africa Climate Summit calls for global investment reform
Increased cross-border electricity trade key to universal access in Africa

Other financing partners providing development and construction capital include the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP) and the US government’s Power Africa initiative.

The project will be the first new private-sector electricity distribution company operating at a national level in sub-Saharan Africa for a decade.

Partners in the public-private partnership (PPP) for the company will embark on an interim agreement to mobilise an initial, two-year $60 million investment into the utility. This initial phase is expected to result in approximately 300,000 Burundians gaining access to grid electricity.

Infrastructure build out

The project will then aim to raise around $1.4 billion over seven years to build a distribution infrastructure network connecting two-thirds of the East African country.

It will do this without the Government of Burundi needing to raise additional loans from its own balance sheet, meaning it is able to focus on other national priorities.

The new utility company will be connected to Burundi’s existing transmission network operated by REGIDESO, the state-owned utility company that will continue to generate power from clean, run-of-river hydropower, and supply distribution-level power to the country’s main urban areas.

The financing for the grid expansion and the creation of a new utility operator in Burundi will come from a blend of private and public funding, including commercial equity and debt, climate-based and other concessional funding, multilateral donor support and private grants.

Commenting on the announcement was Virunga Power CEO Brian Kelly, who called the project “an important milestone for Burundi and a catalyst for accelerating electrification more broadly in sub-Saharan Africa.

“The expansion of power distribution networks to reach unconnected populations with affordable grid power can be achieved by blending public, multilateral, and private sources of capital when paired with efficient private-sector led operations.

“While this is a common approach in developing and developed markets globally, Africa has lacked a locally-based model to follow, and Burundi’s willingness to take leadership with this approach is impressive and commendable.”

Virunga Power is a developer, investor and operator of renewable power generation and distribution networks in East and Southern Africa with a distributed portfolio of assets spanning five countries, including hydropower plants in development, construction and operations, as well as electricity distribution networks.

In the distribution segment, other than Weza Power, the company is investing in the expansion of a licensed utility it owns and operates in the Northwestern Province of Zambia, seeking to replicate this model with its partners in Malawi.

The Lithuanian TSO delivered an autotransformer to the country, which they state will provide electricity to hundreds of thousands of consumers.

The total market value of the equipment is about €3.6 million ($3.9 million), which consists of the autotransformer and other power grid equipment shipped earlier this year.

According to Litgrid, the 330/110/10kv autotransformer will be crucial for the Ukraine grid system as it is the main and most expensive device of the transmission grid substation.

Other 330kV and 110kV voltage transmission network devices, including disconnectors, switches, surge arresters, current and voltage measuring transformers and isolators reached Ukraine earlier this year in April.

The equipment will help ensure the supply of electricity, as Russia targets Ukraine’s energy grid.

Have you read:
‘We won winter battle in energy war with Russia’ says Ukraine boss
Ukraine’s DTEK plans Kyiv region smart grid

Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys commented on the aid package: “As Russia is purposefully destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, we aim to help rebuild and strengthen Ukraine’s electricity transmission network.

“The second very powerful and necessary autotransformer sent to Ukraine from Lithuania will supply electricity to hundreds of thousands of residents. Lithuania’s support to Ukraine’s electricity, gas and heating sectors already exceeds €11 million ($11.8 million), and we will not stop supporting Ukraine in the future.”

A 200 megavolt-ampere autotransformer is very valuable for the Ukrainian electrical energy system: both Lithuania and Ukraine use the same voltage levels, and producing a new one of the same specifications would cost more than €2.5 million ($2.7 million) and would take about two years.

Exclusive: Meet the energy lawyer bringing renewables aid to Ukraine

The autotransformer ready for transport weighs almost 200 tonnes, is three meters wide, five meters high and ten meters long.

“After the arrival of the most important device for the electricity substation – the autotransformer – we can say that the entire second support package has reached the transmission system operator Ukrenegro,” stated Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis.

“An autotransformer and other grid equipment will help rebuild the war-damaged infrastructure. While modernising our country’s substations, we set aside various devices suitable for use in reserve. We will continue to support Ukrainians with them to make electricity supply as reliable and safe as possible.”

Other equipment from the EPSO-G group companies Litgrid and Amber Grid, intended for the restoration of electricity and gas transmission grids, arrived in November last year.

Support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure companies is collected and transported with the help of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Ukraine, and the Ministries of Energy and Transportation.

The transport services of the aid sent by Litgrid to Ukraine are financed by the European Union.

Bitcoin mining energy consumption revised down

The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, one of the key resources in this area, has had its first major revision since its launch in 2019, leading to a reduction, albeit relatively small, in consumption.

For example, for 2021 where the largest discrepancy occurs, the earlier estimate of 104TWh is revised downward by 15TWh to 89TWh.

For 2023 the estimated anticipated consumption based on the year-to-mid-August is 70.4TWh, rather than 75.7TWh of the earlier model.

Have you read?
Four ways AI could bring us closer to net zero
Site visit: France’s first EV battery gigafactory

The Cambridge team attribute the change to the modelling of the Bitcoin mining hardware and technology, taking into account both the increased efficiency and power of the evolving application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

With the progressive reduction in chip size, there has been a corresponding reduction in power needed to transmit data.

However, this now appears to have slowed and steadied as the advances have approached the physical limits of semiconductor technology, with smaller chip manufacture becoming more challenging and expensive.

The Cambridge team expresses confidence in their estimates and regards each update as a progressive step toward enhancing their reliability, but the team acknowledges that Bitcoin’s actual electricity consumption remains elusive and can only be approximated.

Moreover, while electricity consumption is a crucial element in determining Bitcoin’s environmental footprint, it is one and the energy sources used in mining are just as important. Further research is planned to focus on developing a more nuanced perspective of Bitcoin’s electricity mix and more closely examining the climate risks and opportunities associated with cryptocurrency mining.

Samsung to add generative AI to home appliances

Samsung has been reported as planning to add a generative AI feature to its home appliances in the next year.

Yoo Mi-young, head of the software development team of Samsung’s digital appliances division, was reported speaking at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin: “Generative AI technologies will be applied to voice, vision and display” to enable the household electronic products to have a better understanding of what consumers do and want and to be able to respond accordingly.

It will enable the gadgets to communicate with users in a more conversational manner, and to better respond to their questions based on past exchanges and in context.

They will also be able to provide recipes and dietary suggestions based on for example the food ingredients stored in the refrigerator.

Yoo Mi-young was also quoted as reporting the development of an energy-efficient chip to process the increasing amounts of data of smart appliances, with features such as generative AI.

Hydrogen-powered van doubles the range of EV counterparts

Canadian hydrogen company First Hydrogen has reported that its hydrogen fuel cell powered light van supplied to GB fleet management provider Rivus has achieved an “unbeatable range”, easily more than doubling the upwards range to 240km of other modern light commercial electric vehicles.

The vehicle was trialed with Rivus for just over 4 weeks, and covered over 1,100km in that time. Tests were completed on diverse routes, providing data on how the vehicle operates under different conditions including urban city centre driving and extra urban routes covering both low-speed city centre roads and motorways.

The tests also covered the van both empty and loaded to 90% of its maximum weight capacity, reflecting the way vans will be used in the real world.

The vehicle was found to be not heavily affected by the speed or the payload, and performed well under the different load cycles compared to the electric counterparts, which can experience reductions in range by approximately 10%.

“The main benefit of the vehicle is the refuelling times are quicker than battery electric vehicles charge times. And of course, unlike internal combustion engines, hydrogen vehicles produce zero emissions,” Gemma Horne, Warranty Controller at Rivus, commented.

With grid connection lead times a key issue in accelerating the scale up of renewables, top factors identified include the pre-occupied capacity of the grid although not yet physically congested, permitting, materials shortages and poor qualification of plant connection technical project designers and errors in the projects.

This comes with the majority of survey respondents stating that connection times do not match the expectations of customers or government, although just over half say they do match the expectation of their DSO.

The grids in Europe, as they are elsewhere, are being challenged with the rapid scale up of renewables. Further the pressure is expected to increase with the increased demand of electrification.

Have you read?
Europe’s grids need anticipatory planning and investment – Eurelectric
Gridspertise CEO highlights digital leapfrog opportunities for European DSOs

This is projected to require a five-fold upswing in intermittent generation by 2050.

With the two main technical challenges of network inadequacy and instability, it is the time for grid operators and policymakers to rethink current planning, connection and operation processes as well as to take responsibility for coordinating among energy system stakeholders to construct a future-proof 21st century power grid, states E.DSO in the report, which was prepared in collaboration with McKinsey.

Based on measures taken by DSOs and other input to address these issues, the report sets out recommendations to support the connection of more renewables to the existing grids and to minimise their connection lead times.

Number one is to reduce the permitting times, mainly through automation and digitalisation.

There should be transparent, and ideally EU-harmonised, rules for congestion management to facilitate the use of non-firm connections and transparent rules for handling connection queues, improving information to the client and minimizing the possibility of litigation. .

On technical skills, improvement should be supported, for instance by setting up an online or ‘in person’ training to certify the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out grid connection processes and education programmes should be promoted.

For grid management and planning the use of non-firm connections should be evaluated and reactive power management should be introduced.

Renewables advanced functionalities recommended include the implementation of droop control and digitalisation of the renewable connection.

In addition, smart grid control and ADMS should be leveraged to achieve integrated and real-time observability and control for the entire distribution network and smart inverter functions used at LV level to facilitate grid management and, in turn, possibly enable additional DERs connection.

One Energy’s digital substation, intended to power its “Megawatt Hub,” was built as proof of concept for the company’s new, fully digital station architecture.

One Energy’s Megawatt Hubs provide high-volume power connections for industries that require significant loads of power for their operations, such as electric truck charging, digital currency mining, and indoor farming. A typical factory might use between five and ten MW of power. The Findlay Megawatt Hub is a 30MW site that is expandable to 150MW and includes the first fully digital, plug-and-play, transmission-voltage substation in the United States, said the company.

“It is time we completely rethink how substations are designed so that the industry stops making the same mistakes they have been for the last 50 years,” One Energy CEO Jereme Kent said.

“Traditional substations are not secure; they can fail during inevitable severe weather conditions, lack basic condition monitoring, and rely on thousands of small wires to send status and control signals back to the control building. This is why we’ve designed our fully digital substations at One Energy to be secure, digital, resilient, embrace real-time condition monitoring, and survive every conceivable weather event.”

Have you read:
Substation automation market to boom to $55.6bn by 2032
Avangrid unveils Vineyard Wind 1 offshore substation

To build a fully digital substation, One Energy elected to use Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories’ TiDL system, marking the first time a substation is connected entirely by fiber optics using the TiDL system in the United States, according to the company.

One Energy said it preferred the simplicity of physical security that comes with TiDL’s point-to-point fiber communication. This is why the TiDL system was chosen over the IEC 61850-style digital architecture that is gaining traction in Europe.

The TiDL merging unit can be factory installed, tested, and commissioned in all major equipment, making field wiring as simple as connecting a fiber optic cable.

The substation’s 30 MVA transformer, built by Hitachi Energy, includes the Coresense M10 real-time dissolved gas analyser and condition monitoring system.

The system can detect an anomaly in the transformer and, through the control system, automatically send alerts via text to system operators.

The Coresense M10 performs a full dissolved gas analysis on the transformer every 10 minutes, compared to most substation transformers that only test oil once a year.

The high-voltage circuit breakers were also supplied by Hitachi Energy and feature a full condition monitoring package as well. Early and real-time communication and condition monitoring identify smaller issues before they potentially advance into larger issues.

Measures were also taken to increase the substation’s safety and resilience.

To provide physical security for the site, it is surrounded by permanent walls that are all modular and made of solid concrete.

To reduce risks related to animal interference and blowing debris, which are common and are major sources of fault for traditional substations, it was designed to allow for no exposed live parts on the medium voltage buswork.

To prevent what traditionally causes substation fires, it includes environmentally friendly oils and passive and automatic fire suppression systems, the company said.

Originally published on Power Grid.

Also on the radar are a €140 million ($150 million) financing round for investor EIT InnoEnergy as Europe is set to update energy policy, and a triple acquisition of US gas utilities by Canada-based Enbridge.

Shell to reportedly sell sonnen

On Thursday, German publication Handelsblatt reported that oil giant Shell intends to sell sonnen, the German developer of energy storage systems.

The report comes in as Shell moves to divest its retail operations within the UK, Netherlands and Germany as part of a strategic restructuring.

The strategy follows the company’s review of market conditions, announcing in June its retail exit.

Kicking off the strategy late last week, Shell sold its UK and German domestic operations to energy major Octopus Energy.

Shell’s Dutch operations are winding down and in the process of transition.

Shell acquired sonnen back in 2019. According to Handelsblatt, the sale will be a significant deal for Shell, which acquired the Bavaria-based company for €500 million ($535 million); the sale is expected to be valued between €1.35 billion ($1.4 billion) and €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion), according to Handelsblatt.

So far, sonnen has had a very strong 2023 with an expected turnover of €450 million ($482 million). Earlier this year the company announced increased capacity of its German VPP at 250MWh, marking the largest in Europe.

The company is expecting to grow the demand response tech, which consists of tens of thousands of intelligently-controlled sonnenBatteries throughout Germany, to 1GWh in the coming years.

Shell has declined to comment.

Have you read:
Iberdrola taps into automated demand response with Spanish VPP
US DOE labs built a VPP with solar, a nuke, electrolysers and storage. It worked

EIT InnoEnergy’s private placement round

Dutch energy investment company EIT InnoEnergy has received over €140 million from strategic players in industrial, financial, training and digital sectors in a private placement round.

According to the company, proceeds from the financing will be used for increasing new deal flow, launching new industrial initiatives, tapping opportunities from new regulatory frameworks and expanding in the US.

InnoEnergy’s portfolios focus on early-stage innovative technologies and teams in clean tech, normally CAPEX heavy.

InnoEnergy currently has a portfolio of 200 companies, three of which are unicorns, on track to generate €110 billion ($118 billion) in revenue and save 2.1G tonnes of CO2e accumulatively by 2030.

According to InnoEnergy, these companies have collectively raised €9.7 billion ($10.4 billion) in investment to date.

Tabled earlier this year, the European Union has been expecting to pass several policies in mind of better enabling its industrial capacity within the energy sector.

Namely, the European market design has had a proposed reform and the Green Deal Industrial Plan – within which are contained the Critical Raw Materials and Net Zero Industry Acts – will aim to upskill the workforce, develop European clean tech supply chains and lower barriers to deployment.

Part of the private placement round will, states InnoEnergy, also be used for training and upskilling:

“The new skills, and the larger workforce we will need to fulfil net zero objects, are significant, so with our shareholder make-up of those in industrial and financial sectors, and also in academia and research, we are perfectly placed to deliver progress,” stated the company.

More from Smart Energy Finances:
Mathematical optimisation to bolster grid-based energy trading
Glasgow’s SMS acquires heat pump specialist

Earlier this week, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) hosted the first High-Level Electricity Grid Forum, of which EIT Innoenergy was a collaborator, during which the grid was placed high on the agenda as a strategic focus for future investments.

New investors in the round include Societe Generale, Santander CIB, PULSE – CMA CGM Energy Fund, Renault Group, Stena Recycling and NIIT.

Existing shareholders Siemens Financial Services, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Volkswagen Group, ING, Koolen Industries, GROUPE IDEC and Engie were also among the strategic players.

Commenting on the announcement, Diego Pavia, CEO of EIT InnoEnergy, said: “New strategic players have joined InnoEnergy’s outstanding cap table, several shareholders have reinvested, and altogether we have secured sufficient fresh financial resources to double our on-going impact.

“The accelerated energy transition in Europe and in the world, and an increased re-industrialisation ambition in the western world are unique opportunities for InnoEnergy, its portfolio companies and our trusted ecosystem partners. We have geared up for the journey ahead.”

Details on individual investor contributions have not been disclosed.

Triple gas utility acquisition

Canada-based energy company Enbridge has acquired three US-based gas utilities to create what it is calling the largest natural gas utility franchise in the US.

Enbridge entered three separate agreements with Dominion Energy to acquire EOG, Questar and PSNC for the purchase, which totals $14 billion after deductions, including $4.6 billion of assumed debt.

Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the US, transporting crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company also generates renewable energy, touting a growing European offshore wind portfolio.

Upon the closings, Enbridge will add to its portfolio gas utility operations in Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, representing a significant presence in the US utility sector.

The acquisitions will double the scale of the company’s gas utility business to approximately 22% of Enbridge’s total adjusted EBITDA and is hoped to balance the company’s asset mix evenly between natural gas and renewables, as well as liquids.

Enbridge states that following the closings, its gas utility business will be the largest by volume in North America with a combined rate base of over CDN$27 billion ($19.8 billion).

In a press release announcing the acquisition, Enbridge cites how “high-quality, utility cash flows from the gas utilities” will reduce its business risk.

Michele Harradence, president of GDS and executive vice-president at Enbridge, commented that the utilities, each being based in the US, offer strategic advantage when it comes to regulation, namely how they “operate in regions with very attractive regulatory regimes” while offering diverse, low-risk growth opportunities.

However, earlier this week, credit ratings agency Moody’s changed Enbridge’s outlook from stable to negative, a result of the acquisitions.

“The negative outlook on Enbridge is prompted by the company’s announcement that it would acquire US gas utilities… adding pressure to an already weak financial profile that we expect to persist following the transaction close,” said Gavin MacFarlane, Moody’s vice-president – senior credit officer.

“Although Enbridge’s business risk profile improves modestly with the transaction, it is not enough to offset ongoing pressure on the company’s financial profile.”

What are your thoughts on Shell‘s reported strategy to move away from the residential market? If the reports are correct it will be interesting to see who manages to acquire sonnen, which has only been growing.

For the latest finance and investment announcements coming out of the energy sector, make sure to follow Smart Energy Finances Weekly.

I will also be attending Bentley’s upcoming Going Digital Awards in Infrastructure in Singapore in October. Will I see you there?

Cheers,
Yusuf Latief
Content Producer
Smart Energy International

Follow me on LinkedIn

Aiming to bring together industry leaders to raise awareness about the grids’ crucial role in the energy transition and develop input for EU-level policy discussions, the immense investment needed to reinforce the grid stood out as a key topic.

“Let’s make no mistake: investments in the grid will be needed,” said Damian Cortinas, chairman of the board of ENTSO-E, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

“Even if we (fully leverage) digitalisation and coordination with and between TSOs; even then we will need massive investments to connect new generation, for the solidarity between regions and countries of Europe and, in particular, for the sharing of flexibilities we will need for tomorrow.”

The grids forum is the latest initiative coming from European Associations to spotlight the state of the grid and the initiative needed to get it ready for a net-zero scenario.

Earlier this week, Eurelectric reported the need to prioritise grid expansion to meet Fit or 55 and REPowerEU goals, and the European distribution system operator (DSO) association E.DSO set out key pledges for the future grid with a call for investment to be high on the EU’s future agenda.

Investment first

According to Simson, one of the keynote speakers during the forum, although there are several key topics to tackle in readying the power grid, “the first one is investment.

“Europe needs to invest €584 billion ($624.6 billion) by 2030 to modernise and expand its grids. This is huge. But we can get there.”

Referencing an announcement from the European Investment Bank (EIB) back in July of additional financing of 50% (€15 billion ($16 billion)) to the REPowerEU Plan, Simson pointed out how there has been initiative to fast track financing.

“The proposed new electricity market reform will also make a difference. We expect it to change the remuneration mechanism for grid projects and boost anticipatory investments.”

Have you read:
Four elements under negotiation in the Net Zero Industry Act
Are Europe’s distribution grids ready for heavy-duty EVs?

Regulation and interconnection

The second key issue to address, adds Simson, is that of regulatory barriers. Namely, the potential offered by breaking them down and fast tracking procedures.

Third was that of the importance of cross-border interconnection, as highlighted by the energy crisis.

Stated Simson: “Europe stands to gain much if we revitalise regional cooperation and make progress on cross-border interconnections.

“ENTSO-E’s latest 10-year network development plan 2022 shows how Europe needs to invest €6 billion ($6.4 billion) per year to 2040 on cross-border infrastructure; the 15% interconnection target is not just a benchmark – it is the best way to bolster our security of supply and competitiveness.”

Digitalisation and industrialisation

As the fourth point, Simson emphasized that we need to have more efficient grids by digitalising our energy system and investing in smart grids.

“With increasing shares of solar and wind, it’s becoming more important to match demand and supply. This requires real time data and pricing, allowing consumers, business and smart energy appliances to respond to the system’s needs.”

The fifth and final point that Simson highlighted is that of industrial and commercial opportunities for the grid.

“We all read the reports of project delayed or suspended because waiting times for components go beyond 2030, or because of rising costs.

“But let’s not forget that the three largest cable manufacturers in the world are based here in Europe. If we are to boost out industrial capacity, expand the pool of skilled labour, improve supply chain, all of this would turn into jobs , growth and opportunities.”

Simson here referred to the Net Zero Industry Act, one of many tabled back in March 2023 that aim to drive Europe’s prowess within the energy transition by, among other points, boosting European supply chains and upskilling the workforce.

Further conclusions to each of the discussed topics will be released in the coming weeks.

In a new study on the region’s electricity market design, Eurelectric states that with around 70% of the planned new renewable capacity being connected to the distribution grids, these require reinforcement and expansion.

But for efficient and timely connection, the way the grids are developed needs to change from an essentially reactive approach to a ‘build-for-the-future’ approach that includes inter alia anticipatory investments.

“Getting our electricity networks fit for net zero should be a top priority in the coming years, both at EU and national level,” says Kristian Ruby, Secretary General of Eurelectric.

“This requires a new mindset among regulators and legislators. One that anticipates Europe’s capacity needs to integrate more renewable projects, and one that accommodates unprecedented electrification of transport, buildings and industry to match the speed and scale needed for Europe’s energy transition.”

The REPowerEU plan anticipates around 50 to 60 million heat pumps, 65 to 70 million electric vehicles (EVs) and over 600GW of additional renewable capacity by 2030.

Have you read?
European DSOs set out strategic grid investment agenda
Is Germany’s grid renewables ready?

A scarcity of grid capacity translates into longer waits for connections, more congested areas and higher costs for network users.

In its earlier ‘Decarbonisation Speedways’ study, Eurelectric found that the EU currently invests €23 billion (US$25 billion) per year in grid infrastructure. However, the investment in distribution grids should reach no less than €38 billion per year until 2030 and up to €100 billion per year until 2050 to deliver on the decarbonisation’s agenda.

Eurelectric proposes in its report that the distribution networks should be planned at least 5 years ahead, with the option of reaching 10 years and with a 2050 horizon projection.

Further regulators must be flexible on DSO investment instruments, removing regulatory obstacles and adopting output-based remuneration taking into account both capex and opex.

EU policies and funds also must promote investments in the physical dimensioning of the grids. In this connection, dynamic line rating is one of the basic means to expand capacity.

Likewise, significant digitalisation efforts are needed and should be incentivised for grid management and forecasting and flexibility should be promoted, with local production and consumption stimulated.

A key for infrastructure development is permitting and Eurelectric urges for a “dedicated and permanently simplified procedure” for grid development, including a possible ‘one-stop-shop’ concept for a single permit for a generation project and the associated grid expansion.

Underlying much of these actions is the need for accurate information and Eurelectric calls for “robust data-sharing mechanisms” among the various players.

Backed by Innovate UK, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and government teams in India, and delivered by Energy Systems Catapult in partnership with the Indian Institute for Science (IISc), ITES will support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to test, fund and fast-track their innovations to market that help decarbonise transport in India and the UK.

ITES will offer a ‘soft-landing’ for the SMEs, helping to safely develop, test and export solutions that help decarbonise transport. The collaboration will also help SMEs tackle scalability with go-to-market support and access to potential clients, funders and investment.

This first cohort of 20 UK-based SMEs includes teams in the fields of intelligent electricity system services, battery management, charging systems, energy storage, fleet optimisation, hydrogen and rail.

Have you read:
US boosts EV value chain with $15.5bn
Digital twin to decarbonise transport in UK

The different working areas and their respective SMEs include:

Intelligent electricity system Services

• Flock Energy, which uses machine learning to transform energy usage in factories and help them digitalise their operations. The company has developed proprietary algorithms that optimise energy consumption, improving efficiency and productivity.
  
• Terranow, which uses the potential of generative AI to unlock optimal efficiency in the generation and use of energy through focused solutions for forecasting, control and coordination.

Battery recycling and management

• Aceleron Energy, which develops advanced lithium batteries, aiming to accelerate the global shift to cleaner, more renewable energy and to drive sustainable battery technology.
  
• Faraday Battery Limited, which manufactures battery-packs up to 1MW scale for electric vehicles, including tractors, vans, buses and trucks. vehicle, it significantly reduces the lifecycle cost of the electric bus/truck.
  
• Nexmu, which focuses primarily on electric mobility and energy storage. The Nexmu team has integrated its battery management system and related capabilities in the electric powertrain into a single cloud-based platform.

Charging systems

• char.gy, which manufactures amd operatres charging infrastructure, funding, installing, operating and maintaining EV charge points for private landlords and local authorities for their residents who do not have off-street parking.
  
• Entrust Microgrid, chich specialises in smart microgrid systems that maximise user benefits from embedded solar PV, energy storage system, EV charger and other smart energy appliances, and provide the grid with flexibility.
  
• Petalite, which is a second-generation EV charging company that aims to solve the challenges impeding the roll-out of EV charging infrastructure.
  
• [ui!]uk urban integrated ltd, which is an IT consultancy advising local authorities, cities and metropolitan regions in their strategic planning and in the implementation and operation of smart city infrastructures and e-mobility solutions, such as charge point management systems and mobility service provider apps.
  
• Vertical Solar, which is a renewables developer aiming to bring to market new products that remove the traditional constraints associated with solar deployments.
  
• Voltempo, which develops ultra-high power EV charging hubs for heavy vehicle fleets and public service stations.

Energy storage and delivery

• Energineering LTD, which is a consultancy in the realm of industrial energy efficiency and project development. The last five years have seen the team concentrate on developing innovative energy storage solutions, including its patented MECHAPRES system, which uses a combination of reversible heat pumping and Composite Phase Change Material, latent thermal storage to support the needs of decentralised microgrids and DC EV Charging stations.
  
• LiNa Energy, which is developing and commercialising low-cost, solid-state sodium batteries as a safer, more sustainable alternative to lithium-ion. LiNa’s innovation is based on a novel sodium-metal-chloride planar cell, which they state unlocks the high power/energy density potential of established sodium battery chemistry.
  
• PowerUp, which provides an Energy as a Service model, replacing fossil fuel generators with battery PowerStations, using AI algorithms to predict battery behaviours and facilitate just-in-time swapping with renewable energy-charged replacements.

Also of interest:
India to get its first V2G system
India’s Tata selects UK for £4bn EV battery gigafactory

Fleet optimisation

• Flexible Power Systems, which aims to address the increased complexity, risks and cost arising from EV adoption.
  
  The company’s platform provides automated EV fleet and charger management for van, bus, truck or mixed fleets that integrates data from across the business for a view of fleet operations. Part of what this enables, states the company, is the management of power constraints to avoid expensive grid upgrades.

Rail

• Riding Sunbeams, which decarbonises rail traction networks through the development and connection of unsubsidised, direct-wire renewable energy supply.
  
  Riding Sunbeams is now working to develop and demonstrate the required technology to connect solar power and line-side energy storage to feed the Alternating-Current (AC), overhead line railways that make up most of the world’s electrified rail networks.

Hydrogen

• AqSorption, which builds renewable energy systems, concentrating on biogas and combined heat and power plants. Following a series of enhancements to its gasification technology, AqSorption has successfully adapted to move into production of hydrogen.
  
  
• Innervated Vehicle Engineering (IVe), which transforms diesel vans into hydrogen fuel cell vans, offering an alternative to diesel.
  
  
• JET Engineering Services, which works with and on behalf of customers to deliver solutions to technical engineering problems. Following a recent contract award to deliver a hydrogen production system on the subcontinent, and changing priorities in global markets, the company took a strategic decision to redirect its efforts into the green hydrogen sector, and has embarked on a programme to develop a range of projects and products to support this.
  
  
• Logan Energy, which specialises in the delivery of integrated engineering solutions incorporating hydrogen technologies for production through to refuelling.
  
  The team offers a full turnkey service, from project inception & feasibility, design development, manufacturing, installation, and operation and maintenance.
  
  Logan Energy has designed, built, and installed hydrogen production and refuelling stations, and are currently constructing further stations for buses, vans, passenger vehicles, and heavy-duty vehicles.

The 20 SMEs will have access to a range of acceleration support – from start-up mentoring and incubation services, to market research and real-world pilots with Indian businesses that help prove new products on the ground.

Paul Jordan, business leader for innovator support & international at Energy Systems Catapult, commented: “It’s a real pleasure to announce such a strong cohort of SMEs to join us at the start of this major innovation initiative between the UK and India.

“They represent some of the highest-priority innovations needed to tackle transport decarbonisation – from cutting-edge hydrogen, rail, and fleet solutions, to battery storage and management, and other technologies and services that can enable an electric vehicle-ready infrastructure.

“By helping these UK innovators to collaborate, commercialise and trial their solutions in the world’s fifth biggest economy, we hope to both turbocharge decarbonisation efforts and help unleash the economic potential that innovation offers.”

The Innovating for Transport and Energy Systems initiative was launched in May this year.

This was the key message from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Director-General Francesco La Camera to mark an agreement signed with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in support of Africa’s energy goals.

The agreement was signed on Monday, 4 September on the margins of Africa Climate Week in Nairobi.

IRENA said the agreement is geared toward assisting the continent “in their efforts to achieve the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”

“Acknowledging that 80% of the global population without access to electricity resides in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is evident that the existing energy infrastructure cannot adequately meet the continent’s needs,” said La Camera.

But this would require the creation of a more equitable energy system, he said.

AUDA-NEPAD CEO Nardos Bekele-Thomas underscored the findings of the Continental Power Systems Masterplan (CMP), designed to provide a strategic roadmap for connecting Africa’s five power pools.

The CMP emphasises the critical need for immediate and proactive measures in Africa’s electricity sector.

“The current business as usual trajectory falls significantly short of achieving universal electricity access by 2040, necessitating a substantial increase in investments to elevate the continent’s installed capacity from 266GW to approximately 1,218GW,” said Bekele-Thomas.

“To realise this ambitious target, an estimated $1.29 trillion in cumulative investments will be essential, potentially culminating in the establishment of a robust continental electricity market valued at $136 billion by 2040. It is imperative to take urgent and strategic actions to accomplish these transformative goals.”

Have you read?
UK-German NeuConnect interconnector proceeds with construction
Greek TSO acquires 25% share in EuroAsia Interconnector

Planning towards an integrated electricity network in Africa

IRENA said the continued investments in cross-border transmission infrastructure and a deepening of electricity trade will allow African countries to accelerate their energy expansion and transition.

This could be achieved by sourcing electricity from a wide range of competitive, clean energy resources and by anchoring on the continent’s five power pools to create Africa’s Single Electricity Market.

Since 2021, IRENA, in partnership with other organisations, has supported AUDA-NEPAD and African stakeholders in developing the CMP through modelling activities and a series of capacity-building activities related to energy planning in the region. 

The CMP aims to establish a long-term, continent-wide planning process for power generation and transmission that involves all five African power pools. It maps out how to best to utilise the vast renewable energy resources across the continent, supporting national power strategies that consider cross-border interconnections as a vital component.

The next phase of CMP will include a special focus on strengthening the planning processes and accelerating the preparation of a bankable pipeline of priority projects at both the regional and country levels. 

“This brings an opportunity for African countries to align their energy planning processes to a pan-Africa vision and accelerate the realisation of Agenda 2063,” said IRENA.

“Through this new partnership, IRENA and AUDA-NEPAD will work to enhance the capabilities of African countries and regional organisations through knowledge-based capacity building services, support implementation of the renewable energy projects in the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA PAP II) and facilitate access for project developers to IRENA’s Climate Investment Platform and Energy Transition Accelerator Financing (ETAF) platform.”

Originally published by Yunus Kemp on ESI Africa.

Most of these households were in the outlying rural areas, which meant the usual method of revenue collection using post payment was going to be a huge challenge. It was decided to instead use the prepayment meter as the technology of choice to deliver this service.

Meters were manufactured and deployed into the field, but very soon after there were several problems discovered. None of these systems could talk to each other, and they all had varying levels of cryptographic security and functionality.

The solution was to have a system that allowed interoperability between these systems, whilst sharing the same level of state-of-the-art security. This is where the STS, or ‘Standard Transfer Specification’ was born.

It was developed based on an Eskom NRS specification, and essentially it defines the secure transfer of credit into a prepayment meter. One of the requirements for this was to encode every token created with a unique ‘Token Identifier’ or TID, which is then stored in the meter to prevent token replay – 1 Token, 1 Meter, Only once!

The STS system was so successful that it has now become the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems, with over 70 million STS certified meters in over 100 countries.

With the latest version of the specification, STS Edition 2, the doors are now opened to an exciting world of ‘Smart STS Systems’ with two-way communication and powerful smart meter functionality, all whilst retaining the proven STS standards.

Watch the video on STS Edition 2 here

STS, the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems.

Simple, Trusted & Secure.

The 50MW project, which will be installed at Neilston Greener Grid Park in Renfrewshire, Scotland, is intended to support the National Grid Energy System Operator (NGESO) in ensuring system stability as more renewable energy sources come online.

Unlike other operational energy storage systems in the UK, Statkraft’s project will be able to provide inertia and short-circuit power to the grid to keep it stable. Those services, states the partners, are critical to ensuring energy security and affordability as the energy transition advances.

The project will be delivered as part of the NOA Stability Pathfinder, a programme seeking new ways of increasing transmission network stability as synchronous fossil fuel generators are phased out in the UK, with the last coal power stations scheduled to close by 2024.

Lloyd Godwin, principal project manager at Statkraft commented: “We are pleased to be working with Fluence who will be providing the technology for our Neilston Greener Grid Park project, which has recently started construction.

Have you read:
UK gives green light for ‘world’s largest’ battery project
New York creates battery storage fire safety working group

“The project will provide an essential service to stabilise the power grid and allow more renewable energy to be transmitted through the network, without relying on coal and gas-fired power stations. This means fewer harmful emissions and lower bills for consumers, because renewable energy is cheaper.”

For Fluence, this will be the 27th project contracted or delivered in the UK and Ireland, with a total company portfolio in those markets exceeding 1.4GWh, including the first-ever battery-based energy storage project in the Irish market, also delivered for Statkraft.

“Building on Fluence’s history in shaping the British energy storage market, we are delighted to partner with Statkraft, a pioneer in deploying grid stability services in the country,” stated Brian Perusse, managing director of Fluence Energy UK.

“We look forward to delivering a battery-based energy storage system critical to increasing grid stability and enabling the integration of more low-cost renewable generation.”

In total, Fluence has delivered or contracted more than 850MWh projects of this type globally.

In March of this year, Fluence launched Ultrastack, an advanced energy storage product designed to address the complex requirements of transmission and distribution networks.

Statkraft’s Neilston Greener Grid Park will also use some of the functionalities of Ultrastack, benefiting from new technological solutions.

The solution, named Synaps (Synchronous Analysis and Protection System), is for fault detection, classification and location using AI and machine learning to reduce faults on the LV network.

It works by using sensors at a substation and feeder level to detect anomalies in grid performance and via a ‘digital twin’ of the network pinpoints the probable location of intermittent faults.

With the solution, which was developed with UK government network innovation support in partnership with Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks and UK Power Networks, the time and cost of fault detection could be cut by up to two-thirds.

Have you read?
US lab testing new model for investigating grid faults
Energy Transitions Podcast: Improving power system efficiency – the science behind the energy transition

Early results from the solution show it can identify the probability of future failure by >95% and location accuracy >3 m, including spurs.

Paul Beck, Gridkey and Innovation Director at Lucy Electric, comments that detecting and repairing underground intermittent faults is often complex and costly.

“This exciting technology, when coupled with our existing GridKey monitoring system, allows improved fault management specifically the ability to carry out preventative maintenance before larger faults occur, delivering significant savings and reducing customer outages.”

Stewart Reid, Head of Future Networks at Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, where Synaps is monitoring 16 circuits, says the solution is “already improving our service and benefitting our customers through a more reliable network at lower cost.”

Chino Atako, Senior Asset Engineer at UK Power Networks, which has seven circuits being monitored, says that learnings for so far indicate its potential to deliver significant ‘customer interruption’ and ‘customer minutes lost’ benefits.

The AI solution uses the ‘digital twin’ to simulate faults in millions of scenarios, with machine learning technology then comparing this to the measured network data captured when there is a current transient.

This is considered a highly effective way of locating cable faults as it works not just with large transients where there is an immediate chance of the fuse operating, but also with very small transients typical of the start of a cable fault.

Synaps is now being provided by Lucy Electric under the product name COPPsystem (Cable outage prediction and prevention).

Meanwhile trials are continuing to make it progressively more accurate and to get more experience of different cable types and network architectures.

In the future the plan is to extend its capability to the MV and HV networks, in particular offshore applications, where submarine cable faults account for up to 80% of insurance claims by operators.

Electric utilities are being asked to do what may seem like the impossible. They need to rapidly modernise to accommodate the transition to renewables and two-way power flow. They have to improve the reliability of a rickety grid, a lot of which is past its prime.

They must make both new and old infrastructure resilient to climate change disruptions to head off more frequent outages and catastrophic fires and regulators and customers want all this without big rate hikes.

No one solution can resolve all these challenges. But inspection automation is certain to play a part. It can help with modernisation, reliability and resilience while being a net positive in terms of cost. The latest T&D inspection technology can transform operations.

It partially automates everything from new power line siting to diagnosing problems on existing equipment. It leverages the power of AI to alert managers before a transformer blows or check a pole that’s way overdue for replacement. The data it collects provides the agility, visibility and deep insight organisations need to move from reactive to predictive maintenance.

T&D inspection at the speed of flight

Advanced inspection can be used to monitor for all sorts of maintenance issues in transmission power line structures. The process begins with a drone or crewed aircraft equipped with a combination of data capture technologies: thermal sensing, computer vision, high-definition photography and geo-positioning flying over the T&D line. At the speed of flight, the aircraft collects images and heat data along the entire line.

This creates a wealth of data: visual, thermal and geospatial. Depending on the length of a T&D line, this can mean millions of images. That’s where AI automation comes in. An AI-driven platform can automatically upload, tag, organise and analyse multiple data types and sources. It can sort through imagery rapidly, flagging only those images that show suspected anomalies or vegetation problems, with detail down to a few millimeters.

Read more here:
AI to fundamentally change current systems in the energy sector – experts
Hitachi Energy and Google Cloud partner on AI data analytics

Technicians review only these instead of combing through a drop box full of images that all look so similar that it’s easy to miss something. Though the full record of images is there in case a need arises. What was a manual job that previously took field techs and linemen months is done in a fraction of the time.

An AI platform can then provide specific recommendations on repairs or vegetation management, prioritising those that need immediate attention. More than that, the O&M team gets a GIS-true, 3D visualisation of the entire line with a timestamped record for each pole: location, asset health, defect type, severity of problems and state of vegetation. It’s a complete record of the assets at one moment in time, providing baseline data that allows managers to move from reactive or scheduled maintenance to predictive maintenance. Failures are tracked over time, and AI determines what needs repair or an upgrade before it can cause a power disruption.

Precision inspections for distribution poles

The US’s 160 to 180 million power distribution poles are a weak link in our electric power system. They are increasingly vulnerable to more frequent and intense hurricanes, winter bomb cyclones, atmospheric rivers, drought, fires and high temperatures. One study examining two major East Coast cities found that accelerated wood decay from a harsher environment can increase total maintenance cost for these poles to between 6% and 8%, based on standard utility practices and how much temperatures climb.

By examining the full height of poles, advanced inspections using drones can improve the insights collected during traditional wood pole inspections. Without a bucket truck, O&M teams can:

• Detect unusual heat signatures not likely to be caught by visual RGB sensors and ground inspection crews.
• Check the full height of poles and cross-arms and photo-document all kinds of issues: the extent of insect infestation, rot from moisture, rodent chewing, woodpecker holes, damage from fire charring or lightning strikes and large knots and horizontal cracks that may weaken the pole.
• Look at poles from above to see split tops.
• Find failed lightning arrestors.
• Document and assess burn marks from transformer failures or conductor faults.
• Detect failed fused switches on capacitor banks or overhead fused disconnects.
• Assess whether hardware at heights needs tightening due to pole shrinkage.
• Identify damaged or missing insulators or brackets and fraying guy wires and support cables.
• Plus, pinpointing when to replace or reinforce poles to meet the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) has a significant upside. Companies that nail this interval with precision can optimise their maintenance budgets.

How to capitalise on funding to adopt advanced inspection technology

In the last network-infrastructure review, the US Department of Energy found that approximately 70% of the US grid’s transmission lines are over 25 years old, and the average age of large power transformers, which handle 90% of the nation’s electricity flow, is more than 40 years. Some of our country’s electricity networks are over a century old and most distribution poles have been in the ground for 50 or more years, past their expected useful life.

This reality poses economic and security threats. The federal government responded in 2022 with a five-year grant program providing over $450 million annually to states and tribal nations to improve grid resilience and prevent disruptions. Qualifying projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill include:

• Utility pole upkeep and removal of trees and other vegetation affecting grid performance.
• Undergrounding electrical equipment.
• Relocating or reconductoring power lines.
• Improvements to make the grid resistant to extreme weather.
• Implementing monitoring, controls and advanced modeling for real-time situational awareness.

Advanced inspection technology helps with most of these, including the data collection and analysis necessary for tracking and reporting metrics, a funding prerequisite. Utilities seeking grants to modernize operations with this sort of automation have a strong case. 

Mission Possible: Modernisation, reliability, and resilience

No infrastructure inspection can be entirely automated. Utilities will always need human judgment as part of the analysis of T&D inspection data. But monitoring that combines aerial data capture and visual analysis using AI is an essential advance for the industry.

Frontline workforces and managers can do more with less since surveys are completed faster without additional manpower. Utilities get important data that can help head off outages. They get near-real-time visibility into asset health and a view over time.

Advanced inspection technology brings the power of data to electric power system operations, which can translate into measurable payback. Deloitte found that, on average, predictive maintenance increases productivity by 25%, reduces breakdowns by 70% and lowers maintenance costs by 25%. With this kind of time and cost savings, utilities can invest in additional resources that further boost reliability for the energy transition.

About the author:

Andrew Maximow leads the Utility US Sales team for Zeitview and has a career spanning over 20 years in fast-growth technology domains, progressively moving from engineering to leadership roles. Maximow possesses BS & MS degrees in Industrial & Systems Engineering.

The Dutch companies are calling it the first ‘capacity restriction’ contract, which will see Eneco gear electricity supply from a wind project in Farmsum to meet the load on the power grid, a technique to avoid peak demand periods known as congestion management.

During peak moments, Eneco will temporarily reduce the production of this wind energy and Enexis will pay a fee.

The wind farm in question is Farmsum, located in the Dutch province of Groningen, which is connected to one of Enexis’s medium-voltage stations in Weiwerd.

Have you read:
Gridlock: how the Netherlands hit capacity
Dutch utility coordinates flexibility contracts for continuous EV charge

The station’s power grid, states Eneco, has virtually no room left for more capacity and through the contract Eneco will make the wind farm available to produce less electricity during peak moments, freeing up room on the grid.

This is the first time either Enexis or Eneco has concluded this type of contract, which has been signed at a time in the Netherlands when increasingly flexible means of managing consumption are being used to balance an at-capacity grid.

The wind farm has a total capacity of approximately 25MW; Eneco will make 10MW of flexible capacity available to Enexis to open grid capacity for connecting roughly 30,000 solar panels.

The contract takes effect on 1 September 2023. The contract has no fixed end date; it will remain in place until the local power grid has been upgraded.

Commenting on the contract in a release was Lucien Wiegers, director of Eneco’s trading division EET, who stated: “We are pleased to have secured this first deal with Enexis, and we expect to sign several more of these contracts, not only for our own wind and solar farms, but also for farms that we manage for others.”

Added Karin Mathijssen, director of large business customers at Enexis: “We are transitioning to an energy system where these types of flexible contracts are becoming increasingly important. At the same time, this is a new concept – not only for us, but also for our customers.

“I am confident that we will sign more of these types of contracts in the near future. To serve as many of the customers on the waiting list as possible, Enexis will continue to look for parties that can supply flexible capacity and that follow Eneco’s excellent example.

NYSEG, a subsidiary of Avangrid, is to deploy LineVision’s non-contact LiDAR sensors to introduce dynamic line rating in the Hornell area of New York.

The goal of this ‘non-wires alternative’ is to reduce grid congestion with real-time data to enhance the capacity of the lines.

Traditionally, lines have been operated using ‘static’ line ratings based on fixed values.

Have you read?
Ireland’s EirGrid introduces power flow control tools
‘We need to keep going hell-for-leather on renewables’ says Octopus Energy boss

However, with the real-time data combining properties such as sag, temperature and the forecast weather conditions, the capacity can be determined on a ‘dynamic’ basis to enable increases in the capacity without potentially large and costly upgrades.

“We know that we have a critical role in building a smarter, more resilient network that will enable us to deliver clean energy to more customers,” commented Patricia Nilsen, president and CEO of NYSEG and RG&E.

“Investments in innovation like this are very exciting because it will benefit our customers in multiple ways.”

The sensors will be installed on two of the company’s transmission lines – one from Elma in Erie County to Strykersville in Wyoming County and the other from Warsaw to Perry in Wyoming County.

Funding for the project was awarded to Avangrid and LineVision through round two of NYSERDA’s Future Grid Challenge programme.

Capacity optimisation is crucial for the large-scale integration of renewable energies, with their potential for congestion.

New York state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) goals to achieve 70% renewable electricity by 2030 call for an additional 10,000MW solar capacity and 9,000MW offshore wind capacity.

Such an increase would likely cause significant congestion on transmission lines.

Twenty years after the first publication of the IEC 61850 standard in 2003, the utility transmission and distribution businesses and operating environments have changed beyond recognition.

Then the first tentative steps into the digital world were taken with the digitalization of substations.

Though the concept of smartening and automating the grids was starting to emerge with the rolling out of smart meters, successive technological advancements have opened more new and innovative applications.

Alongside this, the transition to net zero is leading to the accelerated integration of utility-scale and residential distributed energy sources to the grids, while wide-scale electrification across sectors such as transportation, heavy industry and home appliances is introducing changes and uncertainties unprecedented for the system operators.

At the same time, the legacy communications technologies that have formed the foundations of power grids today, such as time division multiplexing interfaces, and analogue E&M interfaces used in devices such as relays and remote terminal units, have passed beyond the end of their technology lifecycle, necessitating replacement with next generation devices.

With these developments, IEC 61850 has been expanded to offer a one-stop utility automation framework to meet the complex challenges of operating a dynamic, distributed, intelligent, multivendor grid, both now and in the future.

What are some IEC 61850 use cases?

The first publication of IEC 61850 aimed to enable open and interoperable digital information exchanges for substation automation applications.

Today, with the expansion of the scope of IEC 61850, utilities can use it for automation between substations, for automation between substations, control centres and data centres and for a range of grid-related applications including condition monitoring diagnosis, the transmission of synchrophasor information, power quality and distribution automation.

These are significant developments for power utilities. For example, distribution automation in the feeder domain of distribution grids with the automation of monitoring, protection, and restoration to improve reliability, safety and efficiency at the distribution level.

Similarly, synchrophasor data opens the way to optimizing line capacities and efficiencies and facilitating integration with distributed energy resources.

As an example of such a use case, Dominique Verhulst, Global Energy Practice Leader at Nokia, cites a fire mitigation initiative by a US utility that draws synchrophasor data from several points on the distribution network, which is aggregated and analyzed to recognize breaking conductors and from where a goose message can be sent to the appropriate line switches to de-energize the line “before it hits the ground”, mitigating the risk of fires.

Such new use cases rely on the latest high bandwidth, low latency networks, which also offer the opportunity to implement a true multi-vendor environment.

“With the standardizations in these protocols it opens up the opportunity for utilities to step closer to multivendor interoperability for protection and control systems,” he says.

What are the steps to implementing IEC 61850?

Turning to the practicalities and technicalities of an IEC 61850 implementation, Hansen Chan, Product Marketing Manager for Digital Industries at Nokia, advises that the starting point for a utility is to evaluate the status of its communications infrastructure.

Some issues to consider include the right connectivity to support applications – such as distribution automation – that are both bandwidth intensive and latency sensitive, whether in the substation domain or in the wide area network and down to the last mile to smart meters in the feeder domains.

“With software playing a more and more dominant role in grid operation, communication reliability is key as without connectivity there is no visibility. Then the grid control system just would not function.”

Chan mentions that another key consideration is the “human layer” at the organizational level.

“Implementing IEC 61850 is a multi-disciplinary effort, so you need everyone to be on the same page and to work together towards a single vision. There are different teams that need to be involved not just on the communications side but for example in IT, as new software such as ADMS being delivered in a virtualized compute environment, the data centre network has become a critical part of the communication infrastructure foundation for IEC 61850.”

Verhulst adds that this multi-disciplinary requirement mirrors the trend in utilities of new talent hires who are familiar with these technologies at both hardware and software levels.

This will support the ongoing development of IEC 61850 with their ability to develop new solutions around it.

“Our expectation is that IEC 61850 will keep evolving towards more centralized protection and control and centralized remedial actions schemes that are relying on the more recent variants of the protocols such as the routed goose and sampled values that are becoming popular with utilities.”

What are the components of the IEC 61850 communication infrastructure?

IEC 61850 communications start from the station and process buses in substations and extend to the grid edge via the field area network (FAN) as well as to the network control centre and data center via the wide area network.

Thus, a reliable and functioning communication infrastructure is key.

Chan highlights the “service-centric approach” of Nokia, saying that it is an essential requirement of such a network foundation to support many different grid applications.

“There will be more and more applications coming for which one will need more and more network virtual segmentation and so one needs to have a communication network platform that allows them to be rolled out as required,” he says.

Chan also emphasizes the importance of incorporating broadband wireless access technology such as LTE into the service-centric network in order to deploy IEC 61850-based assets at the grid edge where fiber is not available.

Verhulst states that Nokia’s solutions are very comprehensive with radio access networks that allow individual private wireless infrastructures based on LTE or 5G to be built and are based on a “strong utility focus”, considering elements such as the backhaul requirements and the substation communication elements.

“Our implementation is an end-to-end IP/MPLS solution including a full series of substation and wireless fieldrouters, packet microwave and DWDM optical transport as well as the backbone networking infrastructure.”

He adds that cybersecurity concerns also have been considered and that secure encryption and key cycling are provided to safeguard grid communications.

What are the benefits of an IEC 61850 implementation?

Some of the stated benefits of an IEC 61850 implementation include the ability to roll out applications in a unified manner, interoperability with legacy devices and future-proofing for new technology integrations.

Verhulst says that utilities with which Nokia has worked on network implementations have seen improvements in SAIDI averaging between 30% to 50%.

Further, a JRC study on UK utilities found that they could save around £13 billion (€15.2 billion/$16.5 billion) in grid infrastructure investment with their implementation.

He also returns to the interoperability benefits, saying that Nokia sees IEC 61850 as clearly indicating the trend of utilities being able to “pick and choose” from among the vendors.

“It’s not going to be about whose hardware or software we should buy but more about who has the best to do what we need.

“And added value is going to come with the innovation from the vendors so it’s an interesting move that we will see more of ahead in the next five to ten years.”